Julia and I are exploring the meaning of Beauty, intersecting Beauty with the word of God, and letting Beauty live in our lives. Inspired by a joint feeling of just not measuring up in the beauty category, we’re tackling some hard questions:

• What is Beauty? And does it reside in me?
• And when my husband says that I’m beautiful, how can I receive those words as truth in a culture that says the opposite?
• What am I going to teach my daughters about Beauty?
• And most importantly, what does the Word of God say about Beauty?

Join us as we converse about a topic that touches the heart of all women.
______________________________________________________

Julia and I are starting to feel that we’ve covered most everything we set out to cover from the beginning, not exhaustively by any means.  However, we’ve done the best we can with our God-given abilities.

But we’re not sure this is finished.

Why?

Because there are millions of women on this planet all with their own experiences and God-granted insights on beauty.

Today I’m going to feature one of them, but first I wanted to ask you, beautiful readers, if you would like to contribute to our conversation.

Have the truths in this series changed the way you’ve thought about yourself or beauty in general?

Did we miss something important that you’d like to cover?

Do you have older girls than ours and want to give us few tips on parenting daughters who embody and know what true beauty is?

Are you a husband or father (I know there are a few of you who drop by… don’t be shy!) who wants to say something to the wives and daughters?

If so, we want to hear your thoughts.  Please drop us a line through either a comment or an email (you can find our emails on our blogger profiles) and let us know that you have a new perspective on this conversation.  We’ll be honored to feature you.

Now, let’s hear a little from my friend Jen.

I’ve known Jen since our junior year in college.  My roommate and I had moved in and so had most of the other new students, but our transfer student from San Diego had not arrived.  We were all anticipating her arrival.  Seriously, how did a sophisticated city girl from the west coast end up at a tiny Christian college in the foothills of South Carolina?

After hearing that very question approximately 4 million times, quirky Jen began to respond with: “I stood with my back to a map of the US and I threw a dart.  Where ever it landed I looked for the closest school!”
Her humor and gentle care won over the whole dorm.  Soon she was ringleader for mattress surfing in the hallways, and had encouraged all the girls to open shops in their room with their hidden talents.  Jen served up coffee, hot cocoa, laughter, and honest conversation in her dorm room.  And not much has changed in all the years I’ve known her.

Jen and her future husband Abel in 2005

She may have married sweet Abel the woodsman,  she may have traveled the world, and she may be suffering from a mysterious neurological disorder that leaves her thoughts scattered and sometimes irretrievable– but when you’re with Jen you feel like you’re the only thing that matters to her and that your conversation is the most important thing in her life.
______________________________________________________

Continue reading over here on Julia’s blog.